01) Pics & Proverbs 2016

With Tandy Hills more or less at rest, January is a good time to review and reflect on the past year via 2016's, Prairie Proverbs. I'm also including a dozen of my favorite pics, one from each issue of Prairie Notes.

Herewith, Prairie Proverbs I - XII from, Prairie Notes 2016, with a photo of the quotation author and a favorite pic from the same issue.

DY

> January 1, 2016

Shot gold, maroon and violet, dazzling silver, emerald, fawn,

The earth's whole amplitude and nature's multi-form power consigned for once to colors;

The light, the genial air possessed by them—colors till now unknown,

No limit, confine—not the Western sky alone—the high meridian—North, South, all,

Pure luminous color fighting the silent shadowsto the last.

- Walt Whitman, A Prairie Sunset,1888

> February 1, 2016

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul."

“…a landscape can best be understood and given human significance by poets who have their feet planted in concrete - concrete data - and by scientists whose heads and hearts have not lost the capacity for wonder.”

- Edward Abbey, from, The Journey Home, 1977

> April 1, 2016

"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction."

- E.O. Wilson, American biologist, researcher, naturalist and author

> May 1, 2016

April, dress’d in all his trim,Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing.

- William Shakespeare, Sonnet #98, 1609

> June 1, 2016

"Noise is power. The noiser we are as a country, the more powerful we appear to others."

- James Watt, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, 1981 - 1983

"Calling noise a nuisance is like calling smog an inconvenience."

- William H. Stewart, Former U.S. Surgeon General, 1968

> July 1, 2016

"As one of the appointed City of Fort Worth resource managers for Tandy Hills Natural Area I’ve enjoyed very much working with the Friends of Tandy Hills. Their vision and appreciation for the park have been and will continue to be critical to its ongoing conservation and restoration to benefit the residents of and visitors to Fort Worth."

"A healthy environment is “one of the basic human rights.”

"After the sunset on the prairie, there are only the stars."

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment."

- Ansel Adams

> December 1, 2016

“Our imagination is struck only by what is great; but the lover of natural philosophy should reflect equally on little things.”

- Alexander von Humboldt, 1769 - 1859

02) ReMembership

Do you support the outdoor education, conservation and restoration programs being done by Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area for the past 11 years? How about our events such as Prairie Fest, BioBlitz, Brush Bash, Wild Food Walks, Trout Lily Walks, Kids on the Prairie, Wildflower Walks, PrairieSky / StarParty and the upcoming Manly Men & Wild Women hike? Or possibly the timely news and useful information you get from Prairie Notes and Facebook posts? Of course you do!

How about showing your appreciation with a 2017 Membership? Become a FRIEND today and get some goodies, too, such as this very cool organic cotton bandana designed by Jen schultes from Debora Young illustrations. Become a friend HERE: http://www.tandyhills.org/donate

03) In Memoriam

With heavy hearts, we remember two special friends lost in 2016. Self-appointed mascot of Tandy Hills, Olive the Prairie Dog, was last seen chasing a rabbit at sunset on February 15. She knew the prairie and woodland better than any human. Despite her short stature, she adapted a unique style to negotiate the tall grasses with ease. She attended every event at Tandy Hills since 2007, eagerly greeting everyone with warmth. Her joy in exporing Tandy Hills was a thing to behold.

On April 25, just three days after BioBlitz, esteemed Master Naturalist, Jim Varnum, passed on. Jim was a founding member of North Texas Master Naturalists and the local expert on Trout Lilies and Orchids, among others species. His dedication to education and enthusiasm for the natural world will be missed.

Two other nature mystics also died in 2016. Poet and novelist, Jim Harrison, whose books I highly recommend, passed on, as did Watership Down author, Richard Adams. Watership Down was widely cherished, a story sharing similarities with Tandy Hills. Read their obits here:

04) Attaboy of the Year: Joseph Lippert

Guys like 25 year old, Joseph Lippert, don't come along every day. He showed up for the Brush Bash in February, the BioBlitz in April and he led the Prairie Posse for the past 6 months. His day job at BRIT does not prevent him from devoting many volunteer hours on behalf of Friends of Tandy Hills. We sing your praises, Joe!

06) 9th Annual Brush Bash

07) Painted Prairie Skies

I like this new tradition of reviewing significant skies of the past year. Some months, the sky is the most interesting feature at Tandy Hills. At any rate, the variety of color and texture is astounding. Here are my best shots from 2016.

08) Prairie Proverb

"Our democracy is bound up in these places. I hope."

- Will Rogers, President/CEO of Trust for Public Land, referring to public lands as part of our fabric of connectedness and through our common ownership and appreciation of them, we are vested in one another, state to state, region to region.

"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself."